Type-writing machine.



0. PETERMANN.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APRLICATION men mmso. x915.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

SHEETS-SHEET l.

3 'IIIIIII/IIII/IIII 066a Qcrmqn O. PETERMANN.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-30.1915.

1,203,255. Patented Oct. 31,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 5] vwe ntoz er-ma'n 71,

OTTO PETERMANN, OF GROTON, NEW YORK,

ASSIGNOR TO CORONA TYPEWRITER COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

Application filed January 30, 1915.

To of! whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, Or'ro PETERMANN, a citizen of the liepnblicsof Switzerland, and a resident of (iroton, county of Tompkins, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typeriting Machines, of which the following is a fail. clear, and exact description.

This invention relates more particularly to silent or dead key actions for typewritmg machines for printing accents or for underscoring purposes.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide simple means whereby one or more of a series of keys may be converted into a dead, silent or accent key, and the said hey made to operate a ribbon 'ibrator to move the ribbon to and from the printing point a distance corresponding to that obtained by the ordinary key and at the same time prevent the tripping of the escapement so that the carriage will not be moved by its letter-sparing mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to pro- \ide a simple and efiicient attachment which may be arranged to form a stop or bumper effect for ea eh keymperated lever.

Other objects of the invention are to provide simple and etlicient means whereby very little ehange is required in typewriting ma- ('llliles of the visible. portable type to adapt any one of the keys to be made a dead or lent key; and to provide simple and efiicient means whereby a single rocking frame may be operated by all of the key-levers and with some of the key-levers given a greater move ment than by others to adapt both the eseapement and ribbon vibrating mechanisms to be operated by certain of the keys and only the ribbon mechanism to be operated by one or more other keys.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple and eiiicient means forming a dead key action which is ];iarticnlarly adapted for typewriting machines in which the carriage and the keys are brought into close relation with respect to each other in order that the machine may be made more compact when not in use than when in its normal working position.

A still further object of the invention is to Specification of Letters Patent.

parts with which it cooperates.

Serial No. 5,240.

provide a direct locking connection between one or more key-operated levers and a part of the mechanism controlling the feed of the carriage.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a partof this specification, and will then be pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawings, Figure l is a fragmentary longitudinal section, partly in elevas tion, showing one form of machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing how the dead or silent key mechanism remains ineffective when the 0rdinary key is operated so that both the ribbon mechanism and the escapement mechanism are operated. Fig. 3 is a view similarto Fig. 2 except that the dead key has been actuated so that only the ribbon mechanism will be moved. Fig. 4 is a detail view of a guide or bracket forming a part of the dead key mechanism. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the dead key lock or locking element. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section through the machine, partly broken away and partly in elevation, showing the location of the dead key mechanism and the Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of an element adapted to form a stop to positively limit the movement of the dead or silent key; and Fig. 8 is a detail plan view of a part of one form of ribbon vibrating mechanism.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916. y

\Vhile the invention is shown as applied to a typewriting machine wherein the carriage is mounted upon a foldable support in order that the carriage may be moved forward to substantially overhang the keys, it will be understood that the invention or certain parts thereof may be applied to typewriting machines of various kinds.

The frame 10 of the machine has a rear plate 11 and side plates 12 and may be of any suitable form. A pluralit of rods 13 extend transversely of the macliine between the sides 12, and mounted to swing on said rods are key-lev1rs 14 and? 15. These keylevers are arranged in banks' or sets and have the usual key for operating the same cured to two arms ends are connected to the and form a part of a universal keyboard. There may be one or more key-levers 15, and this lever, while similar to the ordinary keyoperated levers 14, is shown as having been converted into what is known as a dead or silent key or key-lever. Each key-lever is normally held in the downward position by a spring 16, one en of which is secured to the key-lever in advance and at the rear of its pivot rod 13 and the other end of said spring is secured to a transversely extending bar or plate 17. At the rear portion of each key-lever is a horizontally extending art 18 from which projects a lug 19. T ug 19 is connected by a link 20 to a typebar 21 on the outer end of which is a type head 22 having type 23 which are adapted to be forced upwardly and rearward to print against a' platen 24. The platen 24 is mounted u on a carriage 25 and this carriage 25 is a apted to move transversely of the machine on a bed 26. The bed 26 is se- 27 of a foldable support so as to adapt the carriage and platen wit the parts mounted on the bed to be folded forward into substantially overhanging relation to the keys as is common in this class of machine. The carriage 25 has a rack 28 which is adapted to be engaged by a loose dog 29 and a fixed dog 30 which are mounted on a dog carrier 31 to move transversely of the rack, the carriage being connected to a tension rum when released by the operation of the dogs in the usual way. The dog carrier has a projectin part 33 which is adapted to be engaged y a tappet 34 forming a part of a rocking frame 35. This frame 35 is substantially U-shaped in form and comprises a horizontally extending bar 36 and vertically arranged arms 37 which are pivotally held to a transverse rod 38. This transverse rod may be guided at its ends in brackets 39 on the rear frame plate 11 and is connected to suitable platen shift mechanism, the arms 40 forming a part of said mechanism only being shown. The arms 40 are held at one end to a rod 41 and their other transversely extending rod 38, which latter is also secure to vertical posts or slides 42 by which the carriage bed and platen as well as the rock- 35 are given a vertical shift move- The upper ends of the vertical arms frame are slotted, as at 43, and extending transversely through said slotted portions is a rod 44. This rod 44 is held in the upper arms 45 of bell-crank levers 46. The bell-crank levers 46 are pivotally held tobrackets 47 forming guides for the slides 42, and said bell-crank levers have their other arms pivotally connected, at 48, to the upright portions 49 of a universal bar 50. The universal bar 50 has a horizontally extending portion 51 which extendstranshaving a portion machine over all of the keyto be engaged by a lip or tongue 52 on each key-lever so as to move the universal bar upwardly at each depression of a key. This will cause the bellcrank levers 46 to operate the transverse r 44 and through said rod impart a rocking motion to the rocking frame, thus during the movement of the ordinary key-levers, the rocking frame may be moved back and forth so as to trip the escapement to permit the carriage to move for letter-spacing under the tension of the spring drum 32.

The transverse bar 36 of the rocking frame 35 has an upwardly projecting portion 53 which is adapted to enter a slot 54, Fig. 8, in a ribbon vibrator actuatin memversely of the levers and adapted ber 55 and be separable therefrom when the This actuating member 55 is pivotally held, at 56, to a bracket 57 mounted upon the carriage bed. On the actuating member 55 is an adjustable cam lever 58 which is pivoted, at 59, to the actuating member 55 and has cam sides 60 which are adapted to engage a roller 61 carried by a ribbon vibrator 62, the latter being pivoted, at 63, to an arm of the bracket 57 and 64 through which the ribbon is threaded. The lever 58 is adjusted and held in different positions to permit a bichrome ribbon to be used, as for example when positioned over the letter B the black field of the ribbon may be used, when over the letter R the red field may be used, and when moved to a position over the letter S, at which time the cam sides 60 are at substantially an arc with the pivot 56 as a center, the ribbon vibrator may remain silent or inactive or substantially so and below the printing point to ada t the machine for making stencils. As t e rocking frame is moved back and forth at the depression of each key, the actuating member 55 is also moved back and forth and according to the position of the lever 58, the ribbon vibrator 62 will have its throw varied or permitted to remain inactive. The parts as thus described may be of the usual or of any preferred construction or may be such as disclosed in my pending application, Serial No. 714,842, filed August 13, 1912.

To render one or more of the keys or keylevers silent for printing accents or for underscoring letters which requires that the ribbon vibrator be actuated on the depression of the key without tripping the escapement, 1 provide a locking element or member 65. This locking element is bar-like in form and has its lower end slotted, at 66, through which passes an extension or tongue 67 at the rear end of the lever 15. The extension 67 of each keylever whether of the ordinary type or of the dead or silent key type is guided in a slot 68 111 a comb plate 69 which extends transmachine is folded.

silent key-operated .tion by a spring versely of the machine and which serves to guide the inner or resirendti'? of each keylever, the said comb plate being inclined vertically and rigidly held to the brackets 39 by screws or otherwise. The slots 68 of the comb plate 69 are of suflicient length to permit complete depressions of the ordinary key-levers and are somewhat longer than the slot 66 of the locking element 65 so that on the depression of the silent or dead key-lever l5 and after a certain movement thereof, the said locking element 65 will be moved upwardly, as shown in Fig. 3. The locking element or member 65 has an offset portion 71 and at its upper portion has an angular upper end 72 through which is a slot 73. A bracket or plate 74 which is secured to the rear portion of the machine frame by screws 74 or otherwise, has a tongue or part 75 which enters the slot 73 and serves as a guide for the upper portion of said locking element. It will be evident that when the dead key is operated as shown in Fig. 3, the upper end of the locking element 65 will be forced into the path of movement of the transversely extending rod 44 and will prevent further movement of said rod. This will prevent further depression of the silent key which actuates the rod 44 through the universal bar and bell-cranks as already described, and as said rod passes through the slotted portions of the rocking 35 formed by said arms arms 37, the frame and transverse bar 36 is positively locked and at a point against further movement which will not trip the escapement. This movement, however, is such that the ribbon carried by the vibrator is moved to cover the printing point and the depression of the silent key is such as will cause the type to be moved near enough to the platen so that the momentum obtained through the depression ofthe silent key will be suflicient to force the type to make the impression on the work sheet, the frame 35 being restored when the key is released to its normal posi- 76 or otherwise as desired. A bumper or stop device 77, shown in detail in Fig. 7, is provided to prevent all liability of the dead key being depressed too far and thereby possibly cause bleeding when a bichrome ribbon is employed or the liability of the key forcing the rocking frame far enough to trip the escapement. This device 77 has a plate-like body 78 having spring clip ends 79 at the lower portion thereof which is adapted to span the lower edge of the comb plate 69 to hold the said device detachably to said comb plate and in such a way as to prevent upward movement thereof. The body 78 has a slot 80 which is adapted to register with the guide slot for the dead key in the comb plate and said slot 80 is of less length than the slot 68 of said comb plate so that the upper edge 81 of said slot will serve to engage the projectinglip or part 67 of the key-lever when, fully depressed as shown best in Fig. 3. By this 82. This will prevent the element 65 from 'falling or moving out of position when the machine is turned upside down or otherwise handled during transportation. This sprlng position by a spring may have one end fastened to a tongue 83 pressed from the body of the locking element 65and the other end may be held to an extended end of the lower fastening screw 7 4 of the bracket 7-1. The inner end of the lower screw 74' is extended inward as at 84, and passes through a slot 85 in said locking element 65, said end of the screw acting as a guide for the bar or looking element 65 as Well as means to which one end of the spring 82 may be attached.

It will be seen that the parts are constructed so that the dead key may be readily converted to an ordinary key and that the arrangement permits more than one key being made into a silent or dead key, the parts of the dead key action being readily attached to or detached from the machine. It will be seen also that the type carrying the accent mark will not cut or puncture the paper or injure the platen and for this pur' pose the device 77 may be employed in connection with any key-lever to produce a bumper effect or stop and prevent injury by any of the type having punctuation or other marks.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that simple and efiicient'means is provided whereby one or more keys may be made silent to permit printing accents or underscoring; that a simple and efi'ective lock is provided between one or more of the ke s and the parts operated thereby whereby t e ribbon may be actuated without tripping the escapement; that positive means is provided whereby all liability of the key having too great a movement is avoided; that the dead key action as a whole is extremely simple; and that the dead or silentkey action while applicable to different kinds of Writing machines is particularly adapted for machines which are adapted to fold in order that the same may be made compact to adapt the ma chine for transportation or like purposes.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, escapement mechanism atingthe escapement mechanism and operable by all operable by of said key-levers, and means one of said key-levers forming a connection between said element and the key-lever for preventing movement of said element far enough to effect movement of said escapement mechanism.

'2. In a visible typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, escapement mechanism for the carriage, ribbon vibrating mechanism, key-levers, type-bars operated by the key-levers, an element for operating both the escapement and the ribbon vibrating mechanisms and operable by all of said key-levers, and means operable by one of said key-levers forming a connection be-' tween said element and the key-lever for preventing movement of said element far enough to effect movement of said escapement mechanism but effective to move the ribbon vibrating mechanism. a

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, feeding mechanism for the carriage, key-operated levers for operating the feeding mechanism, a silent keyoperated lever, and an element forming a direct connection between a part of the feeding mechanism and said silent key-operated lever for making the feeding mechanism in effective to move the carriage.

4. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, feeding mechanism for the carriage, ribbon vibrating mechanism, key-operated levers for operating the feeding mechanism and the ribbon vibrating mechanism, a silent key-operated lever, and an element forming a direct connection between a part of the feeding mechanism and said silent key-operated lever for making the feeding mechanism ineffective to move the carriage and still permitting said ribbon mechanism to be operated.

5. In a typewriting machine, nation of a carriage, feeding mechanism for the carriage, key-operated levers for operating the feeding mechanism, a silent keyoperated lever, and a bar forming a direct connection between a part of the feeding mechanism and said silent key-operated lever and movable by the latter for making the feeding mechanism ineffective to move the carriage.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, ribbon vibrating mechanism, escapement mechanism for feeding the carriage, a universal bar, keybperated levers adapted to operate the universal bar, connections between the universal bar the escapement mechanism and ribbon vibrating mechanism to move the same, a silent keyoperated lever adapted to operate the universal bar, a ty )e-bar having,an accent type operated by said last-mentioned lever, and

operated lever and the combimeans interposed between the escapement mechanism (1 thesilent key'operated lever to make the atter ineffective to operate said escapement to feed the carriage when the silent key is depressed. l0

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, escapement mechanism for the carriage, a universal bar, key=operated levers adapted to operate the universal bar, connections between the universal bar and the escapement mechanism to move the same, a silent key-operated lever adapted to operate the universal bar, a type-bar having an accent type operated by said last-mentioned lever, and means interposed between the escapement mechanism and the silent key-operated lever to make the latter ineffective to operate-said escapement to feed the carriage when the silent key is depressed.

8. In a visible typewritin machine, the combination of a carriage, r1 bon vibrating mechanism, feeding mechanism for the carriage, a universal bar, key-operated levers adapted to operate the universal bar, connections between the universal bar the escapement mechanism and ribbon vibrating mechanism to move the same, a silent keyoperated lever adapted to operate the universal bar, a type-bar having an accent type operated by said last-mentioned lever, and a bar interposed directly between a part of the feeding mechanism and the silent keyoperated by the latter to make the silent key ineffective to operate said feedin mechanism to feed the carriage when the silent key is depressed but effective to operate the vibrating mechanism.

9. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, escapement mechanism for the carriage, ribbon vibrating mechanism, key-levers, a type-bar operated by each key-lever, a rockin frame adapted to actuate both the ribbon vibrating mechanism and the escapement mechanism under the depression of some of the key-levers, and means operated by one of the key-levers to lock the rocking frame against movement far enough to actuate the escapement mechanism.

10. In a typewriting machine, the com- Ill bination of a carriage, an esca ement mecha nism for the carriage, rib on vibrating mechanism, key-levers, type-bars operated by the key-levers, one of which carries an accent type, a rocking frame adapted to actuate both the ribbon vibrating mechanism and the escapement mechanism under the depression of some of the keys, shift mechanism for moving the carriage an frame, and a bar operated by one of the key- I" levers to lock the rocking frame against movement.

11. In a visible writing machine in which the type-bars have an upward and rearward movement, the combination of a carriage,

ribbon vibratin mechanism, escapement mechanism, keyevers, t pe-bars operated.

movement, the combination of a carriage,-

ribbon vibrating mechanism, escapement mechanism for the carriage, keylevers, typebars operated by said key-levers, a recit ng frame, a universal bar, connections between the universal bar and the rocki" frame to impart movement thereto, said universal bar bein adapted to be actuated by all of the keyevers, guiding means for the key-levers, and a vertical] movable locking bar actu ated by one o the key-levers to lock the rocking frame against movement beyond a certain point to permit actuation of the ribbon vibrator but preventing actuation of the escapement mechanism.

13. In a visible writing machine in which the type-bars have an upward and rearward movement, the combination of a carriage, ribbon vibrating mechanism, escapement mechanism for the carriage, key-levers, t pebars operated by said key-levers, a me 1ng frame, a universal bar, connections between the universal bar and the rocking impart movement thereto, said unlversal bar being adapted to be actuated by all of the keyovers, and a locking bar forming a direct connection between a part movable with the rocking frame and movable b one of the key-levers to lock the rocking ame against movement beyond a certain point to permit actuation of the ribbon vibrator but preventing actuation of the escapement mechanism.

14. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, escapement mechanism, ribbon vibrating mechanism, a common element actuating both escapement mechanism and the ribbon vibrating mechanism, keys for actuating said element, and a, vertically movable locking member actuated by one of the keys for limiting the movement of said element. a

15. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a support, a carriage, esca ement mechanism, a rocking element or actuatmg the escapement mechanism, keys for actuating said element, and a locking member actuated by one of the keys ror limiting the movement of said element.

all of the keye key-levers, and

frame to v 16. typeW-"it'iiig mamm Q mecOmbinationaaofi a, carriage-Q ribbon vibrating emechanisngfescapement mechanism for the Icezi'riage,lifkeys, type operated by saidf'keys, v means' movable by'the keys adapted to impart movement to the ribbon vibrating mechanism and trip the escapement on the depression of the ordinary keys,-a silent'keyoperated lever, a comb plate forming a guide for said silent key-operated lever, a bracket, a lockingm ember having -ai'jbai -like body provided with an angu-lar iend having a slot fittingover apart ofsaid bracket and having an -elongated open-ended slot at its lower and through which a part of the silentkey-operated lever passes and adapted on the depression of the silent key to be moved vertically to limit the movement of the means for ope ating the ribbon vibrating mechanism and the escapement mechanism.

17. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a support, a carriage, ribbon vibrating mechan m, escap'ement mechanism for the carria e, key-levers, type-bars operated by said ey-levers, means movable by the key-levers adapted J impart movement to the ribbon vibrating mechanism and tri the escapement on the depression of the ordinary key-levers, a silent key-operated lever, a bracket, a locking member having a bar-like body provided with an an lar end having a slot fitting over a part 0 said bracket and having an elongated open-ended slot at its lower end through which a part of the silent key-operated lever asses and adapted on the depression of said ke -operated lever to be moved vertically to limit the movement of the means for operating the ribbon vibrating and escapment mechanisms and making the ribbon vibrating mechanism effective and the escapement mechanism inelfective.

18. In a typewriting machine, the combinationof a support, a carriage, ribbon vibrating mechanism, escapement mechanism for the carriage, a rocking frame, key-levers adapted to operate said frame, type-bars operatively connected to the key-levers, a silent key-lever also operatively connected to a type-bar and adapted to operate the rocking frame a comb plate secured to the support and having slots adapted to receive 9. art of the key-levers to guide the same, a. racket secured to said support, and a vertically movable locking bar-like element guided on e bracket at one end and having a slot at the lower end thereof to fit over a part of the silent key-lever and adapted to be actuated thereby.

19. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a support, a carriage, ribbon vibrating mechanism, escapement mechanism for the carriage, a rocking frame, key-levers adapted to operate said frame, type-bars operatively connected to the key-levers, a

silent key-lever also operatively connected to a type-bar and adapted to operate the rocking frame, a comb plate secured to the support and having slots adapted to receive a part of thekey-levers to guide the same, and a vertically movable lockin bar-like element uided on the support an having a slot at he lower end thereof to fit over a art of the silent key-lever and ada ted to 1 e actuated thereby to move the vi rating mechanism to place the ribbon over the printing point and to make the escapement mechanism ineffective to feed the carriage.

20. In a type\vriting machine, the combination of a support,-.a carriage, escapement mechanism, ribbon-vibrating mechanism, key-levers operatively connected to actuate the vibrating mechanism and the escapement mechanism, a silent key, and a vertically movable element operated directly by the silent key to permit the ribbon vi brator to be actuated but preventmovement of the key far enough to trip the escapement.

21. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, feeding mechanism for the carriage, key-levers operatively connected'to actuate the feeling mechanism, a silent ke and a movable element operated directly" y the silent key to prevent move- Copies of this patent may be obtained for ment of the key far enough to make the feeding mechanism effective.

22. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, escapement mechanism, ribbon vibrating mechanism, a movable element adapted to move the vibrating mechanism and the escapement mechanism, key-levers, type-bars operated by said keylevers and adapted to move said element. and a vertically movable member adapted to form a direct lock between said movable element and one of the key-levers to limit the movement thereof.

23. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a carriage, feeding mechanism for the carriage, key-levers operatively connected to actuate the feeding mechanism, a silent key, a movable vclement operated directly by the silent key to prevent movement of the key far enough to make the feeding mechanism effective, and a spring normally holding said element against movement. l

This specification signed and witnessed January 21, A. D. 1915.

OTTO PETERMANN.

Witnesses:

C. T. Yarns, HOWARD M. BROWN.

five cents each, by addressing the commissioner of Patents, Washington, .0. 

